This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Charles Curtis.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 34th home run on Sunday. He has played in just 92 games.
Which means it’s now time we start seriously paying attention to this fact: The Los Angeles Angels superstar who also happens to pitch better than like 90 percent of other hurlers in MLB … could have a shot at Aaron Judge’s American League record in homers that he set just last year.
Oh, and maybe he gets traded in the middle of that chase. LOL amirite?
The pace he’s on at the moment puts him at around 60 home runs, which would be just short of Judge’s 62. But not THAT short.
And while the attention that will be paid if Ohtani keeps this up might get to absurd levels and be just too much — get set for college football games and such to be interrupted for OHTANI WATCH 2K23 — it would still be awe-inspiring, a season like no other that replaces a season like no other, put together by a player who doesn’t pitch like a Cy Young candidate.
CAN’T. WAIT. Let’s see if it happens, but it’s time to start talking about it more.
Quick Hits: The best under-25 NFL players … A slick slide … and more.
— Christian D’Andrea and Robert Zeglinski delivered the best NFL players at 25 and under heading into 2023.
— Bryan Kalbrosky has five undrafted rookies on two-way deals who look like steals during Summer League.
— Hey, Tour de France fans: Don’t cause a wreck by taking a selfie.